The birds they mock me
Discussion
2slo said:
DibblyDobbler said:
Sorry Mark as I am starting to sound like a broken record but these are insanely good - some of the best bird portraits I have seen. Composition, sharpness, processing - all off the scale 
Thanks Mike 
Much as I enjoy doing birds I've hardly done any recently, must try harder!Digital Audubon standard.
ExPat2B said:
They are great Chris, is the background manually vignetted out ? They almost have the feel of studio shots.
I assume that's for me (I'm Mark btw ) and yes, subject and BG treated seperately as individual layers in PS then recombined, thanks.LongQ said:
Hmm.
Digital Audubon standard.
Had to google that one but, having looked at Audubon's work, thanks.Digital Audubon standard.
2slo said:
ExPat2B said:
They are great Chris, is the background manually vignetted out ? They almost have the feel of studio shots.
I assume that's for me (I'm Mark btw ) and yes, subject and BG treated seperately as individual layers in PS then recombined, thanks.LongQ said:
Hmm.
Digital Audubon standard.
Had to google that one but, having looked at Audubon's work, thanks.Digital Audubon standard.
I have taken to carrying a second body with a Sigma 180mm F2.8 macro lens attached, to photograph things that get inside the range of the big lens.
This little chap decided to let me field test the new rig, he was totally unconcerned by me and less than a meter away.
Robin_Macro by Nature Ist, on FlickrAnd a 50% crop to show the detail ( not even a 100% crop, you can go further in )
Robin_Macro_Crop by Nature Ist, on FlickrNow all I need is a Kingfisher to sit that close and I can die happy.
ExPat2B said:
2slo said:
ExPat2B said:
They are great Chris, is the background manually vignetted out ? They almost have the feel of studio shots.
I assume that's for me (I'm Mark btw ) and yes, subject and BG treated seperately as individual layers in PS then recombined, thanks.LongQ said:
Hmm.
Digital Audubon standard.
Had to google that one but, having looked at Audubon's work, thanks.Digital Audubon standard.
I have taken to carrying a second body with a Sigma 180mm F2.8 macro lens attached, to photograph things that get inside the range of the big lens.
This little chap decided to let me field test the new rig, he was totally unconcerned by me and less than a meter away.
Robin_Macro by Nature Ist, on FlickrAnd a 50% crop to show the detail ( not even a 100% crop, you can go further in )
Robin_Macro_Crop by Nature Ist, on FlickrNow all I need is a Kingfisher to sit that close and I can die happy.
Incidentally, did you try the Sigma 150mm f2.8 lens before investing in the 180mm, if so, is there much difference apart from the zoom aspect and the price?
Not sure if this is 100% the right section, but...
If you want to feel properly mocked by the birds try setting up a camera in a birdbox and watch all excited as a bird goes in, looks around a bit then leaves again
This is the one I set up for my parents
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/s-and-d-birdbox
[warning: loud adverts]
If you watch for long enough a blue tit may appear, focus is also a bit off.
If you want to feel properly mocked by the birds try setting up a camera in a birdbox and watch all excited as a bird goes in, looks around a bit then leaves again
This is the one I set up for my parents
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/s-and-d-birdbox
[warning: loud adverts]
If you watch for long enough a blue tit may appear, focus is also a bit off.
rich888 said:
ExPat2B said:
2slo said:
ExPat2B said:
They are great Chris, is the background manually vignetted out ? They almost have the feel of studio shots.
I assume that's for me (I'm Mark btw ) and yes, subject and BG treated seperately as individual layers in PS then recombined, thanks.LongQ said:
Hmm.
Digital Audubon standard.
Had to google that one but, having looked at Audubon's work, thanks.Digital Audubon standard.
I have taken to carrying a second body with a Sigma 180mm F2.8 macro lens attached, to photograph things that get inside the range of the big lens.
This little chap decided to let me field test the new rig, he was totally unconcerned by me and less than a meter away.
Robin_Macro by Nature Ist, on FlickrAnd a 50% crop to show the detail ( not even a 100% crop, you can go further in )
Robin_Macro_Crop by Nature Ist, on FlickrNow all I need is a Kingfisher to sit that close and I can die happy.
Incidentally, did you try the Sigma 150mm f2.8 lens before investing in the 180mm, if so, is there much difference apart from the zoom aspect and the price?
It also needed +16 Autofocus adjust, so I would not recommend it for anything below a D7100 that does not have autofocus fine tune, which leads onto my last complaint - it was released before the Sigma dock so you can't focus tune it or adjust the minimum focus distances for the limit switches on it.
It seems to be earning a permanent place in my bag as it replaces the 70-200, the 105mm f2.8 and the 300f4 ( autofocus and metering works with modified Nikon AFS TC II teleconverter attached ) for portrait, macro and short telephoto work. I got very lucky on ebay with a second hand grey import, it was less than £600 as the lenses quality is virtually unknown. Lens tip review here http://www.lenstip.com/355.1-Lens_review-Sigma_180...
ExPat2B said:
The 180mm is quite different to the 150mm. The 180mm 2.8 was one of the last lenses they produced before the 35mm ART that changed everyone's mind about Sigma and has some very expensive ( and heavy ) FLD glass in it that transforms its performance. The 150 is a fine lens, but is not much good wide open which limits it to macro use. The 180 is sharp wide open, almost totally free of CA, almost perfectly apochromatic ( no red/green colour shift on out of focus areas ) sharp right out to the corners, zero coma, perfect bokeh, my only complaints are - flare performance is not good ( but if you are pointing it at the sun you will be needing new eyeballs ) compared to the 70-200 f2.8 the VR is not as effective and the focus is not as fast, and autofocus tracking is not quite as good.
It also needed +16 Autofocus adjust, so I would not recommend it for anything below a D7100 that does not have autofocus fine tune, which leads onto my last complaint - it was released before the Sigma dock so you can't focus tune it or adjust the minimum focus distances for the limit switches on it.
It seems to be earning a permanent place in my bag as it replaces the 70-200, the 105mm f2.8 and the 300f4 ( autofocus and metering works with modified Nikon AFS TC II teleconverter attached ) for portrait, macro and short telephoto work. I got very lucky on ebay with a second hand grey import, it was less than £600 as the lenses quality is virtually unknown. Lens tip review here http://www.lenstip.com/355.1-Lens_review-Sigma_180...
Cheers ExPat2B for the info which is much appreciated. It's always good to learn from someone that has experience of both lenses and I'm sure that many other users on here will take on board what you have said. Keep up the good work It also needed +16 Autofocus adjust, so I would not recommend it for anything below a D7100 that does not have autofocus fine tune, which leads onto my last complaint - it was released before the Sigma dock so you can't focus tune it or adjust the minimum focus distances for the limit switches on it.
It seems to be earning a permanent place in my bag as it replaces the 70-200, the 105mm f2.8 and the 300f4 ( autofocus and metering works with modified Nikon AFS TC II teleconverter attached ) for portrait, macro and short telephoto work. I got very lucky on ebay with a second hand grey import, it was less than £600 as the lenses quality is virtually unknown. Lens tip review here http://www.lenstip.com/355.1-Lens_review-Sigma_180...
Thought I would step in with my effort while out walking with Milly the lab this lunch time.
Second one is a crop but both are straight out of the camera with no touch ups
Not the same quality as most on here, it was my first trip out with my newly acquired d7000 with sigma 17-70 'C' lens. I think a lot of the pics I took today look washed out. More playing around required I guess.
Second one is a crop but both are straight out of the camera with no touch ups
Not the same quality as most on here, it was my first trip out with my newly acquired d7000 with sigma 17-70 'C' lens. I think a lot of the pics I took today look washed out. More playing around required I guess.
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